That Which Feeds the Inner Flames
by luna-magic-2005
Summary: Yuya, Yukimura, and Sasuke meets after seven years after the split. Small reunions take place, and a man that Yuya thought she'd never see again reappears to take back what's his, and tensions rise when he confronts the most unexpected opposition! KyoYuya
1. Inner Stirrings

Standard disclaimer applies.

That Which Feeds the Inner Flames

Chapter One

By: Luna

...

Yukimura hummed slightly as he walked through his homes garden. Seven years had gone by... seven long years and not once had he seen neither hide nor hair of the people who had made such an impact on his life. Benitora, with his idiocy. Okuni, with her sly arrogance. Kyoshiro with his deceptiveness and betrayal. Kyo, with his gruff shyness and his ideas of subjecting others to masochism with his superiority. And... Yuya. Young, temperamental, beautiful Yuya.

He had never truly forgotten her. She had been a spirited young woman with a heart of gold and the only one who had the strength to stay by Kyo's side throughout every hardship the crew went through. She had a temper, that was for sure, and wasn't afraid to let any and all know it. Her hair had been long then, but he had no doubt that she had let it grow out to a length that would rival Okuni's. He also had no doubt that her slim curves had matured to an all out valley of lusciousness that would feed the imagination of many, and her jade eyes would steal the hearts of the many hundreds that happened to catch even a small glimpse of her inner self.

He had a small... infatuation, he admitted. He always had. She held the same spirit that had drawn many to Lady Sakuya; only Yuya was by far more spirited and refreshing. He had never before let himself think too much of them or... her, but yesterday he had sworn he saw...

No. It was nothing but a figment of his imagination, nothing but a glimpse of what only his heart had wanted to see. All he saw was a flash of blinding gold as silken hair was picked up by a fierce, sudden wind. All he heard was an echo of what her laughter had once sounded like, only now older and cultured. All he felt was a stirring of a dark aura that had vanished the moment Yukimura felt it, an aura that he had thought he wouldn't have recognized after so many years. But no, even if it had been _her_, and even if it had been _him_, there was no way of truly knowing.

But if it _had_ been her, he wished to hell that it hadn't been _him_ that was with her.

* * *

Yuya smiled as she lowered her self in a steaming hot spring, sighing in pure bliss as her body relaxed in the hot water. It was so nice just to relax after a long day's journey. Throughout the seven years since the separation, she had been wandering Japan, collecting bounties and healing as many people as she was capable of doing so. She had long since abandoned Kyoshiro's medicine box, buying one of her own and engraving a symbol on it that could only be recognized by one man. But she hadn't seen Kyo for a while, and she wondered if he would even bother to read the inscription.

My only. She had mixed the characters of Chinese with the characters of Japanese, a past time she and Kyo once did when he had deemed it fit to indulge her. But that had been so long ago... before he had left, and she wondered, _if_ he ever saw it fit to return, if he would indulge her once more. She had loved it when he shared those precious moments with her, for they were the only times when he let himself drop his guard and be loving. Well, as loving as Kyo could get. But again, those moments were things of the past, and were not the things that made her happy, rather made her more depressed.

After deciding that she didn't want to turn shriveled like a prune, she reluctantly pulled herself up and wrapped up in a towel before drying off and quickly dressing in a forest green short kimono and tying a gold sash around her waist. She had kept the long length of her hair up in a towel, and she now pulled the heavy weight of it from her head and let the full length of it fall down her backside to the back of her knees, then tied half of it up with a blood red ribbon. It went against the color pattern of her clothes, butshe didn't care. It had been the one physical gift ever given to her by Kyo, and it was the only one she ever wore.

Sighing, she put on her sandals and started her way towards the town that was about five miles away from the spring. By the time she would get there it would be dark, and she wanted to stay the night in a warm and comfy inn. Plus, it was a lot safer than spending a night alone with just her gun. The most bandits she handled at the time had been fourteen, and nowadays she didn't doubt that they traveled in larger groups, and she wasn't positive she could take them all.

By the time she arrived, it was indeed darkening, and only night vendors and people making their ways home were outside. She picked an inn, and then settled in for the night with the memory of Kyo, and the time so long ago when she had once shared her bed with him.

"Yuya."

Yuya stopped abruptly, turning on her heel when a familiar voice called her name. Her eyes widened as a delighted smile spread across her face. "My God, is that you Sasuke?"

No longer a boy, the eighteen year old Sasuke smirked at her while he clacked together his ever present toy, a hand in the pocket of his ninja outfit. "As bright as day. It's been a long time Nee-san."

Yuya smiled. "It sure has." She paused. "If you're here... then that means Yukimura is with you, too!"

Yukimura. She gave a small laugh, thinking about the strange man. It had been years upon years since they all last seen each other; seven to be exact. She wondered if he had changed, or if he was still the vague leader of the Sanada clan, planning to usurp the Tokugawa Shogunate. Probably. She heard about a few battles going on between the Sanada's and the new Hidetada Tokugawa. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite remember where she heard the name Hidetada before.

She watched as Sasuke shifted, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Yes... he's here. Though I don't think it would be a good idea if you seen him now."

As she wondered what he meant, she took in his stance, the way his eyes wouldn't meet hers, and the slight blush on his face. What on earth was wrong with him? He was acting as if he saw a cute girl... oh. Oh! Her face took on a tint of pink, but that could be because of the sun. Everyone had kept on telling her that she had grown to be the most beautiful lady most had ever seen, but she had never really believed it until Kyo once muttered it while they were in the throes of... better not go there.

"Please, Sasuke, walk with me. I'd like to talk to an old friend of mine, if you don't mind. It's been so long! You've grown up so much, why, I'm surprised I even recognized you! But then, it _would_be hard to forget such a cute kid like you." Yuya laughed, linking an arm through Sasuke's and dragging him to a nearby bench, then hailed a tea man over to heat some tea up.

"So, how has these seven years been to you, Nee-san? What have you been up to all this time?" Sasuke was watching the man heat some tea up with a pot full of hot coals. Man, but Yuya sure changed. More defined, and much more elegant. There was something different about her, though. Something in her eyes that he couldn't quite read.

She sighed. "Nothing much, really. Catching bounties, getting rich, acting as a yojimbo now and again, but that's pretty much it. I even have a house near Edo up in the mountains. I had stayed there awhile with my husband, selling medicine and basically living peacefully. But that life grew a bit boring, and we both started traveling wherever we felt like it. But then _he_ left a while ago, and I'm still wandering from town to town, looking for excitement." Looking for him.

His eyes widened, and he jerked his head in her direction so fast she was surprised it didn't snap off. "You're married! When did this happen? Who is it? Why did the bastard leave you?" Yukimura is going to be sad.

Yuya laughed at his surprise, leaning back on the bench and supporting herself with her arms. "Yes, I'm married. It happened about three years after everyone split. Who it is, well, I'm gonna leave you guessing because it's so fun to tease you. And he left because..." Because I drove him away. I said things I shouldn't have said, made him so furious at me that for a moment I thought he'd draw his sword. Because I made him hate me. "He had something to do, and I would have just gotten in the way. He'll be back, after he's finished."

I hope, Yuya thought, willing the telltale signs of tears from her eyes. When he's decided to forgive me, he'll come back. They were married, after all, and though, even besides the fact that she is obligated and bound by law not to sleep around—even though she never would—he could sleep with any girl he chose. She hoped that wasn't the case.

"Yuya?" Sasuke was looking at her strangely, so she put on a cheerful smile and thanked the man for the tea, counting out her money and putting a little bit extra in the vendor's palm.

Sighing,she settled back with her tea. "I'm fine. So tell me Mr. Sarutobe Sasuke, how has life been treating _you_?"

The teenager shrugged, filing in the back of his mind her odd behavior. "Nothing much." Then, his expression darkened, his eyes becoming a stormy gold. "Houtaru's dead."

Yuya choked on her last bit of tea, hurriedly placing the tea cup in the waiting vendor's hands as she turned to Sasuke with shock. "What? How? When? How could he die?"

He shook as if he was shaking off some unpleasant memory, his lips curling in either hatred, anger, or derisiveness, she couldn't tell. "Disease. Can you believe that? Some freaking disease crept into his system and he died."

She couldn't believe it. How could someone so quietly powerful succumb to such a thing? She put her arm around the younger man, trying her best to console him, and knowing she was failing miserably. Her mind spun with questions, but this wasn't the right person to ask them to, because she didn't want to drag up any unwanted memories for the man—boy really. "Sasuke... there wasn't anything you or he could havedone. Disease is something everyone fights against."

He shook her arm off him, standing and turning to her defiantly. "No! You don't understand! He over-dosed on _opium_. The stupid bastard couldn't get enough of it! How could he have changed so much? How could he let himself get addicted to such a thing! I'll never forgive him for dying! Never!"

"Well, I certainly hope that you aren't talking about me."

"Yukimura!" Yuya turned to him with a radiant smile, her hair falling over her shoulder in a beautiful show of gold silk, her gem-like eyes sparkled like sun reflecting off water. Yukimura was transfixed. He was right about her, on all aspects. For a moment he thought that no one should be that beautiful, but he was still glad that she was.

"Yuya-san! Why, I haven't seen you in nearly a decade! What are you, twenty-two? Twenty-three? Somewhere in the middle?" He teased her, his voice soft with warm welcoming. He was happy when he heard her laugh, already loving the sound of it.

"A lady never tells her age, sir!" She stood, absently brushing the locks of her thick hair over her shoulder. Yukimura followed the movement before smiling at her, offering his arm in the way he saw foreigners do with their ladies. She looked confused for a minute before linking their arms together, letting Yukimura lead her towards wherever he had it in mind to go, smiling as she listened to his non-stop chatter. It was nice to be by people she cared about. It's been a long time since she has been able to laugh and smile like this with somebody.

They arrived at a luscious inn, and both he and Sasuke walked her to a back room where they planned to eat, drink, and be merry as they caught up on old times. Yukimura was blissfully drunk when Yuya left for her own room, and that was when Sasuke approached him. Yukimura knew that Sasuke knew about his little infatuation. How could he not? He wondered what the younger boy thought of it.

"She's married, Yukimura."

Yukimura waved the words away, not believing them because he didn't want to believe them. "I'm sure many men fancied themselves married to her many times in dreams. Sasuke, please, I don't appreciate being lied to, especially by you." His voice, even drunk, was easy going, but his words left no doubt in Sasuke's mind that his Lord was offering him both a reprimand and a threat.

But Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not lying, Yukimura! She told me herself!"

What was he, grasping straws? Yukimura realized, ashamedly, that he had changed a lot during the past seven years, to be so put down at the thought of the woman that has entertained his thoughts many a night on several occasions. "Then tell me, Sasuke, who is he? No man in his right mind would leave such a treasure like Yuya alone. If she is married and this supposed husband obviously left her, the man must be blind and a complete idiot."

Sasuke shook his head again, a frown crossing his boyishly handsome face. "She didn't say."

Again, Yukimura waved him away. "Whatever you say, Sasuke."

With a frown still firmly attached to his face, Sasuke melted into the shadows.

* * *

Yuya hummed a tune as she walked through the gardens in the back of the inn, too wound up to go to sleep. It had been such an eventful day! First, she sees her dear friend Sasuke, and then she meets up with Yukimura again! She was... happy, she realized. She almost didn't recognize the emotion, having it been so long since she felt it. Too long, in fact. As she looked up at the moon, she thought of Kyo, her thoughts saddening ever so slowly and the hum of happiness she felt at seeing Yukimura again dimmed.

"_Why are you being like this? Are you so stupid and pigheaded you can't see what's right in front of you! You promised Kyo! You promised you'd try to never kill again, and you slaughtered those men right before my eyes!" She yelled, hurt and horrified all in one. But he _promised_, dammit! He never lied or broke a promise to her before! Why would he start now?_

_He growled, standing up and looking intimidating, his hair long once more and tied at the base of his neck with her old white ribbon. His black and white robe was loosely tied. She wasn't intimidated though. She was firm in her belief of him never hurting her. Physically, at least. "Watch you're tongue, bitch. I'm not a coward that refuses a challenge."_

"_But you promised me! How could break something like that? And why _can't_ you resist a challenge? You knew those men were weaker than you, Kyo. You knew it! You're such a freaking bastard! I can't believe I've put up with you all these years! First, you STILL order me around like I'm your servant – when in all actually I'm your WIFE! Then you disappear for days on end, not telling me where you're going or what you're doing or who you're with, and when I ask you, you don't even give me astraight answer!"_

_His red eyes darkened to near burgundy, his teeth clenched, and she felt his murderous aura rolling off him in waves. "You doubt my fidelity, is that it?" His lips curled. "Well, if you're as pathetically lonely as you say, maybe I should be the one doubting_ your _faithfulness."_

_Yuya gasped, outraged. "How dare you!" She hissed, clenching her fists together and glaring at him with all she was worth. "I would never be faithless to you! How can you be angry at me for feeling this way if you're never around? You don't tell me anything, and when you do, it's not the answer to the question I asked! Though, with your so-called heritage, I guess I can understand your need to hide things!"_

_She knew that was a mistake even before the words completely left her lips. She didn't mean to speak such hurtful words to him, but she herself was hurt and angry and confused as to why, after five years of being together, he would still act so cold and aloof and pretend most of the time that she didn't even exist. She watched with dread as he closed his eyes in his effort to control his rage, her eyes widening in horror when she saw him lift his sword._

"_K-kyo...?" her voice wavered as she whispered his name. It took effort, but he eventually lowered his weapon and leaned it against the wall. Then he went inside the bedroom they had shared. She sagged against the wall as what she said repeated itself in her mind. How could she say something like that? True, she was hurt, and she was lonely, and she was desperate for her husbands love, but that was no excuse to take her pain and strike him with it. If he was comfortable with this isolated arrangement, she shouldn't argue._

_She loved the man, after all, and she wanted to stay by his side forever. He_ must _feel love for her, otherwise he wouldn't have shown those small acts of love, never mind their infrequency, and she should have accepted it. But did he really expect her to live through this sudden withdrawal? One day he was loving – or as loving as he gets – and the next he's avoiding her and acting like he had all those many years ago, when she first laid her sixteen-year-old eyes on the man she would eventually fall in love with._

_Did he really expect her not to suspect? He disappeared for days, even weeks at a time, without telling her what he was doing or_ anything_, and when she asked he wouldn't give her an answer. She hurt him with her words, yes, but he was killing her with his actions. Could she even remember the last time he voluntarily touched her? No. She couldn't even remember the last time they kissed, hugged, or even spoke a sincere word to one another. She couldn't live like this. She just couldn't! Either Kyo was in love with somebody else or he just plain didn't love her anymore, but she just couldn't stand to live like this._

_She looked up, defeated, when Kyo came back out. He paused, only for a moment, when he saw her, but then he reached for his sword and that was when she saw his wrapped package. She jerked upright. Was he leaving? Panic streaked through her, and she rushed to the bedroom. "Are you leaving? Let me come with you! I'll be ready in a moment!"_

"_Don't you dare pack your things." His dangerous voice stopped her cold._

"_So – so you're leaving then? When will you be back? Where are you going?" She was grasping here, reaching for something to hold on to but failing miserably._

"_I need to get away from here. Don't follow me." Her heart broke._

_She stood stock still as she watched his back as he walked away. Away from her, away from her love, away from all the years they spent together. "FINE THEN!" she screamed to his back. "Leave! I don't care anymore! I just—!" she chocked back a sob. "Go ahead and walk away, Kyo! But don't expect me to be here when you return! Do you hear me! I won't be here! If you want me back, you'll have to go and_look _for me, because I'm sure as hell not going to look for you!"_

_He didn't even hesitate. He kept on walking, acting like he didn't hear her sobs, and didn't even look behind him when he crested the hill, disappearing from her sight. She sucked in a trembling breath through her teeth, her chest shaking with the effort to control her sobs, and thenrose to her feet._

_The house was suddenly too stifling. All the memories in it too hurtful to remember. Blindly, for hours she packed up nearly everything of hers and Kyo's, leaving out only things she would take with her, and packing everything else in the shed the both of them had built together some years before._

_She went into Edo then, found a trustworthy family that needed a place to stay, their payment forstaying in thehouse till she returned- if ever -only being to keep the shed and all its keepsakes safe. Then she packed up the few meager supplies she would need on the road, her medicine chest, and then she too, walked away from the only true home she had ever had, it being home for the soul reason that Kyo had been there with her. She made a point to herself when she set out in the opposite direction Kyo took, not once looking behind her._

What was he doing now? It's been two years since he left her. Two years since she spoke those hurtful words and was left so alone that for the first year by herself she swore she cried herself to sleep every night. Did he ever think of her? Did he ever wonder what she was doing, where she was going, if she stayed faithful to him, even after so long a separation? Probably not. Knowing him, he's most likely stewing over her words, building up a bile over it until he hated her almost as much as she knew he hated her then.

She probably did him a favor by not chasing after him. He's probably visited every brothel in whatever towns he's been to and living in the lap of luxury.

Tears pricked her eyes, and she hoped with all her heart that it wasn't so. Kyo loved her. Somewhere in his heart, he cared. He had to! She... she didn't think she could bare it if he didn't, or if she never saw him again. She had said that she wouldn't follow him. But if that was true, what was she doing looking for him? Any hint she could find, any word that was spoken about a red-eyed demon passing through, she soaked it all up like a sponge, desperate in her search.

"Miss Yuya? What are you still doing up?" Yukimura's voice startled her.

She looked up at him as he stopped beside her. "Nothing, really. Just thinking about the past." She looked away from him, back up to the lonely moon, and again thought of Kyo. "Thinking of all the things I regret, and all the things I wish I can change. Do you know what it's like, to regret something so much that you feel like it will take the rest of your life to make up? I feel that way."

He stared at her, for once his face unsmiling, and nodded his head. "Yes. I know how you feel. But you shouldn't think of things like that to the point where it burdens your heart. There was once a temperamental, free spirited young lady that I once knew. I wonder where she's gone?"

A bitter smile crossed her lips as she dropped her gaze from the moon. "Gone, obviously. Anyways, there used to be a man who never told anyone what he was really thinking. Where have you gone, sir?"

He laughed, and then chucked her under the chin in a show of affection that Yuya missed. "My dear, if you knew even an inkling of my thoughts right now, you would run home screaming to your mysterious husband." He probably shouldn't have added that last part, but there really was no point in taking them back now.

Yuya gaped at him for a moment before looking away. That sentence could be taken in so many different ways, and she didn't even want to _think_ about the things that sprung up in her mind. She laughed. "Well, if my mysterious husband was home, which I know he isn't, I don't think he'd appreciate me running to him." Her face darkened. "Wouldn't want to appear weak, now do I?"

Yukimura stared down at her, shocked. So she _was_ married. From what he was reading off her, it must not have been a very happy one. "I take it your dear husband didn't know how to treat a lady?"

She blinked. "Do you mean if I was unhappy?" At his nod, she shook her head. "No. With him just being around him made me happy. He didn't mind my tempter very much, and at night he always listened when we were together. He didn't smile very often, but in the five years that we were together, I'm proud to say that he smiled at me many times." She reached up to pull her red ribbon out of her hair, letting the top half fall down her back as she stared down at the worn ribbon, the man so gruff and shy when he gave it to her. "This was the first gift he gave me. I've taken such good care of it, too, just so it won't become ruined. I miss him. With every passing day, I miss him. He's someone I can't forget, even if I wanted to."

"But can you move on?" His voice was soft. "Can you move away from the memory of a man who left you?"

When she looked up, he was very close. The look in his eyesmade her stomach quiver. How long had it been since a man looked at her that way? Too long to remember. He took another step forward, but even as his beautiful eyes moved to her lips, Yuya found herself moving back and shaking her head.

A dark cloud appeared behind her, and she shivered at the frigid aura the man was practically oozing. But... she recognized this feeling! Her breath seized in her throat, her hands clenched together in front of her chest, and her eyes frozen to some spot just above Yukimura's shoulder.

Yukimura straightened, looking at the man behind her. "Why, hello there, Kyo-san."

A thickly muscled arm wrapped itself around her waist, and she let herself dazedly be pushed close to the mans chest. It was only then did she realize that the muramasa was at Yukimura's throat. "Stay away from my wife." His voice was dark, purring, and threatening. She shivered.

Then Yuya did something she thought she'd never do - something she _had_ never done, and fainted dead away into the arms of her long lost husband.


	2. The Reason

Standard disclaimer applies.

That Which Feeds the Inner Flames

Chapter Two

By: Luna

...

Sunlight filtered through the rice paper doors with shocking intensity, and Yuya squeezed her eyes shut in order to make the light go away, if only momentarily. She lay there for a moment, feeling lazy as she stewed over the shocking memory of her fainting, unable to quite believe it. She had _never_ fainted before in her life. But why had she fainted? She couldn't quite remember...

"How long are you going to pretend that you're asleep?"

Scratch that.

She sat up so quickly that stars danced in front of her eyes. Her eyes flew to the darkest corner of the room instantly, knowing without looking that it was where _he_ was sitting. She stared, unbelieving, as the man who had left her for two years stared back at her with cool, unemotional ruby eyes.

He was wearing a black and dark gray Kinagashi with yin yang symbols etched in the collar and in the hems of his sleeves. His magnificent raven hair was unbound and falling around his broad shoulders, and even in the shadows she could see the faint reddish hint apparent in the gleam if his hair. He was beautiful, and the one sight she had been yearning to see for the longest of times.

Why had he come back, now of all times? Would he tell her his reason for staying away for so long? She knew that if he had wanted to see her throughout the time they had been separated, he could have easily. His skills of tracking were much more experienced and capable than hers, after all. She wanted to go to him; wanted to wrap her arms around his muscled waist and bury her head in his chest, breath in his unique scent of man, sweat, and the outdoors, and revel in the feel of his thick arms closing around her. But as she sat there, her sleeping yukata parted slightly, showing just a hint of cleavage, her blankets pooled at her waist, she heard the sound of Yukimura's free and unrestrained laughter, and she hesitated.

Her eyes never left Kyo's. "Why are you here?" She had meant for her voice to be strong, but it was soft and breathy.

He shrugged nonchalantly, and it was then that she noticed her old white ribbon – the one that he had used to wear, was wrapped crisscrossed around the wrist whose hand was holding the muramasa to his shoulder. Why had he kept it...? "Because I wanted to." Hm. Because he wanted to. Maybe that was why he kept it for so long.

She was disappointed in his answer, and tried to keep it out of her voice when she spoke to him. "Oh. Why did you leave?"

Again, he shrugged, his eyes cold and as emotional as ice. "Because I had to."

She was whispering now. "Why?"

When he opened his mouth to answer, the shoji doors of her room were slammed unceremoniously open, and Yuya felt only slight irritation at the rude, unannounced intrusion. She looked away from her husband and up at Yukimura, her face solemn. "Hello, Yukimura."

The man blinked, as if surprised, but she felt she knew better, and then wondered why he would plan the interruption. "Why, hello Yuya-san. Kyo-san, I didn't expect to see _you_ still in here."

Yuya gaped. What on earth had made the man so rude? He spoke those nonchalant words to Kyo as if he had expected Kyo to depart without another word. Keeping her own thoughts about that idea to herself, Yuya looked to Kyo to judge his reaction. His face was expressionless as always, but she knew he was angry. His fist that had been loosely wrapped around the hilt of his muramasa had tightened, and his once relaxed shoulders were stiffly set.

"I think," He spoke slowly. "that I have a right to be in the same room _alone_ with my _wife_. _You_, however, do not."

Yukimura smiled easily, dismissing Kyo with a glance as he looked to Yuya. "You passed out so suddenly and I didn't know what room was yours, so I put you in mine. I booked a room for Kyo, too, but he obviously didn't stay in it."

Yuya was surprised. He had stayed with her all night? Smiling as best as she could to distill the sudden tension, she looked at Yukimura apologetically. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you so, but right now, I'd like some time alone to talk with my husband." She felt and saw his eyes slide briefly to her chest, but acted as if she didn't notice and wondered why she didn't immediately close her robe.

The smile dimmed a bit, but he nodded and closed the doors behind him. She waited until his footsteps could no longer be heard before she raised her eyes to her husbands. When she spoke, she was once again breathless with no idea why. "Hello, husband."

He didn't blink, and he still didn't smile, but he stood and walked to her side before sitting in the same position he was at on the other side of the room, only this time he was close to her side. She had to blink away the sudden moisture she felt in her eyes when memories of the past came flooding back to her in brief flashes. This was how they used to sit at night. She would read a book on medicine or something, and he would merely sit by her side as if being close to her was all that made him comfortable.

She watched as he set his muramasa beside him, just like he did so long ago, and held her breath when his head turned, his face mere inches from her own. "Yuya." It sounded like an endearment.

His body was still tense, and she wondered briefly what it was he was waiting for. "You've been gone a long time, Kyo."

He nodded curtly, and she resisted the urge to brush back the hair that had fallen into his eyes with the movement. "I know." Turning suddenly to face her, his legs folded in front of him and his elbows resting on his knees, he acted like he was waiting for something. But what?

She wanted him to touch her. She shouldn't be surprised to want that, but she was. She leaned forward slightly, their faces getting inches closer with each movement. He watched her, silent. "What are you waiting for?" Her voice was a whisper.

"You." Kyo's voice was solemn, asking yet demanding, and Yuya softened instantly. How could one single word hold so much meaning? It was soft, yet hard. Unyielding, yet yielding all at once. He was asking for her back, yet demanding that she come. He wanted to make sure she would welcome him back, instead of taking her when he wasn't wanted.

She stared into his bottomless eyes as if in a trance, then slowly lifted her hand and brought it to the side of his face, her fingertips a breath away from his skin. Her breath hitched in her throat, and a smile so lovely spread across her face when she slid the smooth tips of her fingers across the soft skin of his cheek. As she watched, she saw a brief smile – just the barest hints of the lifting of the corners of his mouth, before he started to lean into her.

The doors slammed open again suddenly, only this time it was Sasuke. "Yuya! There's a woman giving birth downstairs, and she needs your help!" He shot an apologetic look to Kyo, having already taken in the scene, and then ran out the door.

Yuya, her hand still on his cheek, felt her smile fade away, and with a sigh her hand fell away and she leaned back. She then tightened the robe of her yukata and reached for her medicine box that had been resting beside her.

She headed towards the doors without once looking back, and felt the hot red of his eyes burn the back of her head long after she was out of his sight.

* * *

When he entered the room, Yuya didn't look back at him, so focused on her task. She smiled down at the panting woman lying on a futon in front of her. She smoothed back the woman's black hair, and then placed a solid stick in her mouth as she moved to her legs.

Kyo watched her, his ruby eyes taking in every inch of her beloved face; her soothing voice as she crooned to the woman giving birth; her gentle hands under the raised blanket covering the woman's legs. He had missed her. He remembered the words so cruelly spoken before they had separated. He remembered the burning feel of mad anger as he forced his hand to lower his weapon.

That, in the end, is what had made him leave.

How could he have done that? How could he have even thought of dealing physical pain to her perfect body? If his rage, his madness that he had managed to keep repressed for so long was awakened by mere words, how would he be able to protect his dear woman from himself?

He knew she didn't mean the words she spoke. He recognized the defeated look in her eyes that had appeared so often when she looked at him, as if he were something that her gentle hands and soothing love couldn't reach. They had been together for five years, and he had long ago gotten over the surprise of the fact that he had been happy. He had laughed with her and smiled with her, even though those moments were few and far between, and in those darkest hours of night he held the only piece of heaven he'll ever be able to hold in his arms. And he... walked away.

Standing there, watching her work with the woman and her child, heedless of the hours that passed, had him remembering, and he settled down to get more comfortable. Always, she had been there. Always, the moment he felt that he needed something to hold on to, she would appear at his side as his anchor. She was his weakness, he knew, and didn't care. He would make sure that no harm would come to her, and he _had_ made sure no future harm would come to her when he walked away from her all those years ago.

But that was over. He would no longer deny himself the warmth of her flesh. No longer would he stay awake at night, unwilling to admit that he depended on her. Dependence. That too, drove him away. He didn't want to depend on anybody, he hadn't _wanted_ to depend on anybody, yet he found himself needing her.

He was back now, however, and he wasn't leaving until she made her choice. He didn't like it, but he wasn't about to grovel. He would wait until _she_ came to _him_, not the other way around. But that Yukimura... he was going to be a problem.

Once considered a friend, he now was considered a potential threat. Not to Kyo's strength or skill, for Kyo new without needing a demonstration that he was still more than Yukimura would ever be. No, his threat came from his potential in changing Yuya's mind. He wasn't blind enough not to see it. She was still hurting, even though she didn't show it, and with the arrival of Yukimura, she was wavering on her devotion to her husband for the first time.

A scream ripped through the air, and Kyo glanced up to see Yuya staring down at a bloody... thing, smiling proudly with a look of stark longing in her jade eyes. Of course. Yuya had always wanted to have children, but had never once conceived throughout the entire time they had been together.

She placed the child in the mothers arms after quickly checking her over, then returned to clean up the woman's legs and other mess and then disposed of some lumpy mass of flesh that he had no idea what the hell it was. She then returned to the baby and cut the cord coming out of its stomach, quickly tying a medical tie tightly around the stub, then checking the babes mouth and slapping it hard enough on the cheeks to make it cry. It coughed up some liquid, and Yuya cleaned that up and let the mother take care of the rest.

Why would Yuya want to put herself through _that_? Women died of childbirth all the time – he personally considered the woman lucky that she had Yuya to nurse her. Why would Yuya want to take the chance of dying? He didn't want any chances like that to happen, and therefore hoped she never got pregnant.

She plopped down beside him with a weary sigh, smiling in thanks when one of the inn's servants placed two bowls of steaming water in front of her with pristine white towels. While she started speaking to Kyo, she began to wash her hands. "I wonder where Himeko's husband is? It angers me that no doctor here would treat her." She looked around, and then sighed. "Damn. The father really should have been here for the birth of his child. He probably didn't realize the prize he left behind."

"He was a fool." He snorted. Why bother talking to him of other people's problems? She should know he could care less.

"Oh? Do you consider yourself a fool, then?" Her voice was soft, not meaning to be insulting.

He was silent for a minute or two before he answered. "No. I had always known what I was leaving behind. Regret is the hardest thing to get over."

He heard her gasp, but didn't turn to look at her. He didn't feel like talking anymore, so he wasn't going to. It was then that the ever-present Yukimura entered again, and Kyo felt the beginning stirrings of hatred for his rival. Yuya smiled at him, cleaning off the last bit of grime from her arms and taking off the thick robe the inn had supplied her with. He felt satisfaction when she tightened her robe, unlike before. "Yukimura! We were just talking about where Himeko's husband was."

"And I was just commenting about how the bastard ditched her." He didn't bother to hide the scorn in his voice.

Yukimura tipped his head to the side and gave a guileless smile. "Ah, yes. That is a strange concept, isn't it? Husbands 'ditching' their wives?"

Kyo was on his feet in less time that it took for her to blink, and both men had their swords drawn. Kyo was positively radiating his dark aura for the world to feel and fear, but Yukimura took it all in with a hard smile.

What the hell was going on here! Yuya thought angrily. When the baby started to cry, she jumped to her feet to face the two moronic males. "Would you two stop? Yukimura, I don't know where that came from, but it was completely impolite and rude and there is no excuse for it. And Kyo, you shouldn't let mere words affect you so much."

He knew that. Kyo had that same motto etched permanently on his brain. He watched with cold eyes as Yukimura shrugged cheerfully and sheathed his sword in one fluid motion, and he tensed as he watched Yukimura walk to his wife's side and chuck her under the chin in a blatant show of affection. Kyo growled low in his throat, angry and hurt all at once when his wife blushed and didn't pull away.

When Yuya turned to face her husband, he was gone.

* * *

She found him in a field some ways outside of town, sitting under a thickly leaved pine. "Kyo?"

The barest flick of his eyes passing over and through her was the only indication that he had heard her at all. She bit her lip, wondering at his sudden shift in mood. "It's a nice day today, isn't it? Not too warm, but not too cold, either. What do you think?"

"What do you care?" He still hadn't even looked at her yet.

With a near soundless growl, she walked until she was just a foot away from him, glaring down at him in frustration. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

He stood, almost too abruptly, and she nearly stumbled back in surprise. "You listen here, bitch. I'm not going to go grovel at your feet while you let Yukimura play sweetheart."

She blinked, and just like that her mood changed. "Yukimura's not my sweetheart, dear husband. I wouldn't be here now if he was."

But he didn't believe her, and he wished he could. His voice was stolid when he spoke. "You've changed, haven't you?"

His tone was cold, like always. But, like always, Yuya heard what was underneath. "Yes. But not as much as I'd like to think I have. But everything changes with time. Absolutely nothing stays the same. Do you agree?"

He was silent, and when he turned to her, his gaze was intense. "No. Some things stay the same."

She wondered what he meant. Smiling, she moved closer to him. "Cherry blossom season is almost here. The flowers should bloom any day now. I wonder, will you stay until then?"

Watching her, he nodded slowly. "Not alone, though."

She held her breath, waiting. When he didn't do anything, she gave a slight smile and cocked her head to the side, a slender finger tapping her chin thoughtfully. "You look really good, Kyo." She have a little twirl. "Do I?"

Without a bat of his eyelash, he said, "Still the female bitch you were seven years ago."

"WHAT!" What the heck was _that_ supposed to mean? "Are you saying I still look like a child! Or—or have a 'dog-face'!"

Shrugging, he pulled his arms though the sleeves of his Kinagashi to rest inside the robes like a sling. "Sure."

Her face puffed up and turned red in an old display of childhood temper that Kyo enjoyed. "Ooooooh! You haven't changed one bit!"

"Really? I rather thought I looked good. _Really_ good. Not even a minute ago you were saying the same thing." He had the nerve to grin.

"Well, you know what? I changed my mind! You look absolutely horrible!" Just for good measure, she looked him up and down before looking away as if in disappointment. But he _really_ didn't look horrible. She remembered the feel of his hard chest and his thickly muscled arms when he pulled her back against him the other night. She didn't doubt that his body looked just as beautiful now as it did then.

Smirking, he shifted on his feet. "You've always been a bad liar, Yuya." There it was again. The slight endearment she heard when he said her name.

"I wasn't lying! I was…" Was what?

His smirk grew. "What? Fibbing? Stretching the truth? Don't deny it, little wife, I look _damn_ good."

Teeth gritting together in a useless attempt to keep her blush down._ Little wife._ "Well, you're full of yourself, as always."

A perfectly arched brow raised itself as if in surprise. "You giving up so soon?"

She sniffed and looked away haughtily. "Excuse me if I refuse to talk the daft and stupid."

"Why?" Came the dry retort. "You afraid they'd outsmart you?"

Bending down, she grabbed a handful of grass and yanked it up, dirt clogs and all. With a well aimed throw, she threw it at Kyo straight in the chest. Then ran like the dickens back to the village, laughing and grinning stupidly when she heard the laugh of her husband at her back.

When Yukimura found her, she was still grinning as she packed her meager traveling gear. "Hello, Yuya-san. I was looking for Kyo. Do you know where he is?"

She looked up at him, her eyes glittering happily. He wanted to think that it was because of him, but knew better. "Out buying some sake."

An odd look entered her eyes, and he watched with some curiosity as she reached inside her kimono where he knew she kept her money pouch. "Why, that cad!"

When he left, her laughter rang in his ears long after she settled in her room to sleep.


	3. Forgiven Confusion

Standard disclaimer applies.

That Which Feeds the Inner Flames

Chapter Three

By: Luna

...

Yuya was not a happy girl.

Kyo disappeared again for god knows what, Yukimura has seriously been starting to get on her nerves from hovering around her shoulders all the time, and Sasuke is too busy brooding to even have a decent conversation with her. Not only that, but Yuya was beginning to feel restless again, and she wanted to move out of town as quickly as possible.

Sighing, she propped her chin in her palm and stared at the road, waiting for Kyo to return. It could be possible, she supposed, that Kyo was coming back from the opposite side of the village and she could have missed him entirely, but at the moment she felt too lazy to walk to the other side of the village and wait there, and she doubted that he had returned yet because she was sure he would do his best to make his presence known. She drummed her fingers a bit, sighed, and closed her eyes.

And felt the icy sting of a blade resting against her throat.

"You'd think that after all these years you'd learn something." A husky voice said amusedly.

Yuya rolled her eyes at this and didn't move or flinch away from the blade. "You'd think that after all these years a grown man would grow out of trying to scare women for sport." She smiled a bit. "And here I thought I'd married a matured man. What on earth was I thinking?"

There was a beat of silence. His next words, however, stripped the amusement from her. "I don't know. What were you thinking?"

She opened her eyes and stared at the ground before her, ignoring how the villagers were staring at them with something akin to wariness and unease when the man behind her didn't remove his sword from her neck. No one tried to interfere. It made her smile ruefully before she answered. "I was thinking that I was in love."

"And are you still?"

There was another moment of silence before her voice came, achingly sad and confused. "I don't know. What were you thinking when you married me?"

Slowly, the blade slid from her neck without even a scratch, and she heard the hiss of metal against metal when he sheathed his sword. She felt his dark presence move close behind her; so close that she felt his body heat emanating from him, but he didn't touch her. "I suppose I thought the same as you."

Freezing, Yuya held her breath and waited, but nothing happened. She stood and turned to face him, the only thing between them was the rock she had been sitting on moments before. She wanted to believe she still loved him, but she was still unsure. Ever since she met up with Yukimura and Sasuke, she has been having second thoughts. Before, she was convinced that when and if Kyo ever returned to her, they would pick up where they left off and she would only ask him questions when the time was right. But now... things were different.

Every time she thought that she'd give in, every time she thought that she would go to her husband – for reasons she couldn't understand, she would hear Yukimura's laughter ringing in her ears, or his voice filled with a warmth that Kyo would never dare express openly even when they were alone. Could she go back to a husband who never laughed except when he's killing? Could she live with a man who only smiled when she made the extreme effort of making it happen?

She didn't know. It scared and broke her heart whenever she thought of it.

Kyo straightened, and when she looked up her heart lurched in her chest when vulnerability flashed in his red eyes before it was gone. "We should get going." He said curtly. "I want to leave this town."

Yuya nodded, a little uncertain. "And Yukimura? What if he plans to come with us?

If possible, Kyo's expression darkened and turned even more glacial than before. "I'll kill him."

She waved a hand breezily between them as she lightly side-stepped the rock between them and made to move past him. "Nonsense. I say we invite him to come with us. It'll just be like old times when there were six of us all together!" She sighed. "I miss those days sometimes."

When she would have passed him, Kyo reached out and grabbed her wrist. She froze and her breath caught in her throat when a heat she had thought no longer burned raced through her in a blaze of fiery sensation, and Yuya felt inexplicable tears prick at the corner of her eyes. Oh, how she missed how he burned...

"No, Yuya. It won't be like old times. Everything is different now." His voice was quiet. Damn him for being right.

Slowly, achingly, she pulled her arm away from him and nearly cried out when the flames inside her vanished, leaving only the sizzling remembrance of how the mere touch of his hand burned her to the core. "I know, Kyo. _I know_. Why did it have to change? Why did you have to leave me for so long? Why did you come back?" She shook her head slowly, miraculously keeping her tears from falling. "You won't answer any of my questions Kyo, and I can't trust you until you do."

When she turned away, she fought to ignore the way his eyes seemed to physically touch her, and she bit her lip in a valiant effort not to look back. She had vowed long ago not to do that, after all. By the time she reached Sasuke, any traces of her sadness were expertly covered.

Sasuke raised a brow at her when she started shuffling through her bags that she had packed the night before, pulling out a mirror and setting it up in front of her before she started to comb her hair. "You sure are obsessed with that, you know."

She glanced over at him with a raised brow. "What?"

"Brushing your hair. It's just as untangled and silky as before."

"What's so wrong about me wanting to look nice?" She said defensively, self-consciously setting down her comb.

Sasuke shrugged, hiding a grin. "Only that I think you're vain."

"I am _not_ vain." Her voice was flat, but her eyes threw daggers.

"Sure you are. Me, I don't really care about my appearance. If somebody doesn't like the way I look, I tell them to go to hell."

She threw a side-long glance at him, her raised brow arrogant. "Why? So you can meet up with them later?"

Sasuke's mouth dropped open, but before he could make up a retort, a loud, dark laugh filled the room, and they both turned towards the open entrance of the room to find Kyo standing there, grinning in his devilish way. Yukimura peaked over his shoulder with a catty smile. Yuya found herself grinning, happy that for the moment everybody seemed relaxed, smiling and laughing just like they used to when there was more to the group then just the four of them.

She couldn't have been more wrong. How could she have known that darker feelings were hidden underneath such easy smiles?

* * *

Kyo moved stealthily across the cool grass of the inns garden, stopping only when he could lean against the tree that stood in the middle of the small clearing so he could sit at its trunk and smoke a pipe while he waited. He pulled out the pipe, stuffing a few finger fills of tobacco in it before lighting it.

The stupid bitch spent the rest of the day with that damn Yukimura, laughing and flirting as if they were lovers. He burned with the resentment, but said nothing as he had watched her flounce. To punish him, he was sure, but he would be damned to let her know her little ploy worked in needling him.

_Why did you come back?_

Her voice still haunted him. He came back because he had to. He came back because he could no longer force himself to stay away. She wouldn't understand. She _couldn't_ understand. The day he had left... he had been angry. No, that wasn't quite true—he had been _furious_. Damn her for acting innocent in not knowing why.

Yes, one of the reasons he had left was because he had done something that he thought he would never do with the intention of carrying it through, and he had raised his sword to her. Yes, he was selfish when he left and damn satisfied when he did, if only momentarily. But she... she had betrayed his trust first in the cruelest blow to his heart and to his pride, and she didn't seem worse for wear. In fact, she did a pretty good job of acting innocent when faced with his fury.

Weeks before he had left, he had been content. They lived alone in the mountains with only a few visitors from the village every month. It had only been the two of them, and though he had still trained every day to keep himself up to par, he had also took on the chores of a normal man, chopping wood and hunting for food and enjoying the company of his wife.

He absently rubbed his hand over the part of his chest that covered his heart, remembering that day as vividly as if only a mere hour worth of time passed by, and he was back at his house with his wife and his fleeting happiness.

_Yuya looked up as he approached, a smile lighting her features instantly. "Hey there! You'd never believe what happened today." She stood up from her position by the leaves she had raked into a pile and started burning, carefully moving around the low blaze to stand by his side._

_He raised a brow at her in question, unsmiling. "You're right. What is it?"_

_She rolled her eyes at him and nudged him with her shoulder before leaning up against him. "Oh, you're no fun. You remember Yukino from the village? Well, she's pregnant again! Can you believe it? I swear, her and that husband of hers are like rabbits in the spring time." She laughed. "Only they stay in heat all year."_

_Kyo smirked down at her as he wrapped a possessive arm about her waist, ignoring the longing in her voice for the child he was not yet sure he wanted. "They certainly resemble the rodents."_

_She smacked at his chest. "Kyo! Watch what you say! They're my friends, remember." She tried to sound disapproving, but the smile tugging at her lips gave her away._

_He pulled a strand of her hair away from her face. "I'll say whatever the hell I want." He then stared down at her with his cold eyes emotionless as always, his brows raised superior. "The cherry blossom trees are about to bloom within a few weeks. You should get ready for the celebration they're sure to have."_

_Hope brightened her eyes. "Will you come with me this year?"_

"_No."_

_Only to be deflated. She sighed. "Oh, come on. There'll be plenty of sake for you. You won't even have to join in the festivities."_

"_I said no." Kyo tried not to be affected by her disappointment, but he had no wish to go to some godforsaken festival with her just because she wanted him to. As a sort of apology, he tugged her closer and wrapped his arms tightly around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. The wind blew his hair over his shoulders, mixing in with the golden strands of her hair and looking down to find Yuya playing with the tresses that had blown somewhat in her face._

"_You know, I remember a time when someone once asked me to watch the cherry blossoms with him. He was the last man to ever do so." Her voice was dreamy, as if she were captured in some long lost dream or memory. Kyo stiffened, a fuse of anger striking inside of him and slowly start to burn. How dare she. How _dare_ she think of that fucking bastard while he held her in his arms?_

_His arms tightened around her to the point where she squeaked and dropped his hair. "Uh, Kyo?"_

_Slowly, he loosened his grip until she stood away from him, eyeing him warily. "Kyo? Are you okay? You look kind of pale."_

_He looked down at her, furious beyond belief, and curled his lips. "I'm fine."_

_And then he walked away from her._

After that, he started leaving the house for hours, even days at time, going away from it as far as he dared before turning back. Funny, but even now that wound hurt him. He had thought she had been happy with him. He had thought that he would be enough to erase any memory of that bastards face from her mind. But it hadn't. Her memory seemed as fresh as the flowers blooming outside their house, and she had dared think of _him_ while in his arms.

He had said nothing, building up his bitterness and his resentment inside of him until his already sore wound began to fester, so when thieves graced their path on the way home from the village one day, Kyo rose to their challenge and killed them one by one, needing some sort of outlet for his frustration. He remembered he had stared at the pieces of their bloody corpses at his feet, smirking in satisfaction.

Until he felt her eyes on him.

Slowly, he turned and faced her. She stared at him as if she didn't recognize who he was. Horror was painted in her jade eyes, and her mouth was slightly gaping open in repulsion. Without a word, she turned on her heel and again started home. He had thought she would keep quiet, but he should have known better. Once an hour had passed inside their house without a word to each other, she exploded in furious temper, glaring at him for all she was worth.

"_How could you?" Accusation rang sharply in her voice. "How could you slaughter those men like that?"_

_He shrugged as if unconcerned. "Quite easily, actually. They weren't much of a challenge."_

"_Then why kill them at all? They were terrified of you, Kyo! And still you killed them one after another as if you were enjoying it!"_

_Again, he shrugged. "I was."_

"_Why are you being like this? Are you so stupid and pigheaded you can't see what's right in front of you? You promised Kyo! You promised you'd try to never kill again, and you slaughtered those men right before my eyes!"_

They were angry, and they were both hurt, and they punished each other with words, not really understanding what they were feeling and filled with too much pride to ever ask forgiveness or show enough weakness as to allow themselves to ask each other what was bothering them. In the end, she spoke the one sentence she must have known would make him snap, reminding him of a past he cared not to acknowledge.

"_... Though, with your so-called heritage, I guess I can understand your need to hide things!"_

And then he had done the unfathomable, and had raised his sword to her, and then he had left. He never felt regret as strong or as thick as the weight he felt right then. When he finished his pipe, he blew out the last of the smoke and leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. He felt her hesitant presence before she even made it off the porch.

"Kyo?" Her voice was timid.

He didn't bother opening his eyes even after she stood uncertain at his side. "What the hell do you want? Shouldn't you be hanging on Yukimura's arm somewhere?"

Definitely not the right words to start off with, judging by the sudden redness of her face. From anger, not embarrassment. "You gave me the choice to choose, Kyo! And with you acting like this, I'm going to take it!"

He snapped his eyes open then, standing abruptly and glaring down at her with festered anger. "I changed my mind, damnit."

She gaped at him. "Y-you can't do that!"

His lips began to curl as he moved until he was at the point where he could back her up against the tree, trapping her. "Yes, I can."

Belatedly, she realized that she no longer had an escape route. He spoke slowly, deliberately. "I'll not stand around while you try to replace what's in your life whether you like it or not."

She tried to dodge to her left, but his arm snaked out and caught her wrist, yanking her back and slamming her against the tree roughly. He held her arms above her head while his free hand gently roamed the lines of her face. He touched her with his fingertips; the merest touch of flame licking her skin across her forehead, her cheeks, under her eyes, and down the bridge of her nose. Across the smooth skin of her lips and tracing the curve of her jaw.

But when she opened her mouth in a useless effort to speak, she was silenced with the hard crush of his lips against hers. He ravaged her mouth with a vengeance, somehow punishing her for whatever inner torment he seemed to have held deep inside him, blaming it on her for whatever reasons she could not understand.

He pressed her hard against the tree, her hands caught painfully in one hand and held above her, while his other hand lifted her leg to wrap it around his waist. His hand wreaked havoc on her, and she gasped at the hot, burning sensation of pleasure as he reawakened the embers that still burned inside her for him, fanning the flames to an all out inferno as he ground himself hard against her very core over and over. There was no gentleness in his embrace like before, but this time she didn't care; craving the hardness of him with an intensity that left her breathless.

She ground her hips to his, almost frantically, her mouth seeking his. With her hands still caught above her and Kyo's hard length pressing her to the tree, she lifted her other leg and wrapped it around his waist, tightening them around him as her yukata was practically torn apart by his crazed hand.

She moaned, burning with the heat he never hesitated to inspire inside of her; burning her with a heat that only he could evoke. His hand trailed down her stomach, and farther still until she gasped, and she lurched against his touch frantically. He held her still, his hand tightening around her wrists and his eyes glowing with lucid pleasure as he watched her face.

But then his touch was gone, and for an instant she thought she would drop to the floor in a half naked, undignified heap, before she felt his hands slam her against the tree again and once again holding her hands on both sides of her head with his own. He leaned in close, his forehead resting against hers. His expression had changed, and his once lucid eyes were burning with red with an intensity she craved, and she arched her body towards his wantonly. He didn't move away from her, but he didn't do anything to alleviate the sudden fierce pressure that ached deep inside her.

When she tried again to set her hands free, Kyo growled low in his throat and once again slammed her roughly and harshly against the tree, rattling her senses and slowly clearing the passion from her eyes. "You're _mine_, bitch. You can deny it all you want, but you're mine and that fool Yukimura is going to die before he has a chance to take what doesn't belong to him. And you'll die, too, before you have a chance to give it."

She stared up at him, shaken. "You won't kill me." She was utterly sure of it.

He sneered down at her. "Can't I? I don't like the fact that my wife flirts with the very man that wants to have her for himself." When she opened her mouth to protest again, he shook her abruptly. "I don't like the fact that the last time I held my wife in my arms, she had been thinking of one not her husband."

Yuya watched him, confused yet fascinated. "I don't know what you're talking about." She whispered.

"Don't you?" He demanded, his breath hot against her cheek. Staring at his lips, she felt the heat rise in her once more, and she lifted a long, smooth leg until it wrapped itself around his waist and pulled him unresisting to her body.

She needed his warmth. She needed his darkness and his light and his passion. She needed him with his killing and his anger, and the shadows that darkened his gaze when he was left alone for too long by himself. She needed to feel his hard length pressed against her very core, and she needed to breath in the scent that only he possessed, making her life as complete as it had been before this horrible misunderstanding that had needlessly separated them for so long.

"Tell me, Kyo." She gasped as she ground herself against his unmoving form, watching as his eyes closed in pleasure. "Please, tell me why you left." She stopped. "I need to know, Kyo."

He opened his eyes slowly. "You want to know?"

He let go of her arms then, pushing down her leg forcefully and tucking her head underneath his chin as he wrapped his arms around her. And just as suddenly, she remembered. She remembered how she had asked him to go to the festivals with her, trying to lure him into going with an offhand comment about another male taking interest in her, and somehow he had known that she had been talking about Kyoshiro.

She closed her eyes. Of course. He had shared a body with Kyoshiro at the time, and he had heard every words spoken and every word heard. With trembling fingers, she reached up until her fingertips lightly touched either side of his face. Her eyes glimmered, and her smile was tremulous. How could such a thing have separated them? It was so small and insignificant, but it had created such a chasm between them that left them both feeling barren.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "But if you would have just explained, if you would have just told me what you were thinking and feeling, I might have had a chance to remind you that my heart had belonged solely to you. I belonged solely to you. Kyoshiro was nothing but a fragment of memory that we both left behind in our pasts. Oh, Kyo!" She threw herself against him, burying her face in his strong chest.

His arms were steel bands around her, holding her so close that she could feel every line and every ridge of his body. Slowly, unaware that sad eyes had witnessed the last of her testimony, she stepped back and held her hand out to him. "Come, husband. It's high time we got reacquainted with each other."

But he hesitated, and she knew what he was asking. "Yes, Kyo. I'm yours. I'm just as much yours as I was then as I am now, and that will never change. Just... don't leave me again. Don't leave me ever again, I'm begging you."

Gently, he took her proffered hand and drew her to his chest. "I thought you didn't beg scum like me."

Her laugh was watery. "I guess I can make an exception just this once, as long as you promise."

He was silent for three heartbeats. As she stared up at his face, she wondered how she could discern his emotions when his facial features never changed expression. "I swear." His voice was quiet, and she knew his words were to be true because he said them, and he was Kyo.


	4. The Ending of What Never Started

Standard disclaimer applies.

That Which Feeds the Inner Flames

Chapter Four

By: Luna

...

_"Kyo... do you know how much you mean to me? Every time I see you, every time I catch your scent, I go mad with wanting you..."_

_Limbs entangled, sweat slicked bodies moved to a rhythm as old as time itself. Gasping, reaching, lips searching for each other, arms reaching for each other, they soared on their way to eternity. Heat exploding again and again and again within each other as their cries and fingertips touched the edge of heaven before softly, slowly, they cascaded down to the ground, only to begin once again._

"_I burn for you, Kyo... do you burn for me too? I can't stand it when I'm away from you."_

_He cried out, silently; lovingly; beautifully. She reveled in the sound of it, the near painfully beautiful look on his face every time he reached that highest peak; that pinnacle of light that burns you from the inside out and makes you explode into a million pieces of shattered stars. She reached for him. Needing him, wanting him, doing everything in her power to stay with him in that moment of utter bliss._

_His breath hissed out of him as he settled over her, laying his cheek against her breast while his other hand reached up to rest over the other one. He breathed in her scent, smiled lazily as he licked off sweat from her porcelain skin. His grin became one of satisfaction when he heard her sigh in pleasure, then slowly turned into one of completeness as her whispered voice breathed feathery words above him that bypassed all his walls of ice and pierced his heart more easily than it should have, worried him less than it should have._

"Forever_, Kyo... I love you... I will love you forever..."_

* * *

When Yuya awoke the next morning, she was alone.

At first, she was worried and had sat up in bed so fast that her head spun for a moment before she looked around the room. Kyo had donned all of his clothes, and nothing but the lingering scent of their lovemaking and the rumpled sheets beside her where he had laid indicated he was even there at all. She brought the edge of the blanket up to her chest with a sense of modesty – a useless gesture seeing how she was alone in her room.

But then she felt something brush up against her wrist and, looking down, saw that the red ribbon carelessly torn from her hair the night before was wrapped neatly around her wrist, tied with a bow so badly done she had to smile at the cuteness of the gesture. Remembering the sight of her own ribbon wrapped around his wrist, she stopped her hand from taking it off.

She moved over to her packed clothing, wincing a bit at her slight soreness. But it was a good hurt, she decided, hugging herself in quiet happiness. She remembered the night before, how Kyo accepted that she hadn't had anybody else but him without hesitation, as if the thought of her betraying him in that aspect had never crossed his mind. Still naked, she reached down to grab her ivory comb.

And felt a muscled arm wrap around her waist while the other hand covered her mouth.

She jerked in surprise, opting to ram her elbow into the other mans ribs or sternum instead of screaming. The man grabbed her elbow easily, and when heat ignited inside of her at the simple touch, she knew who it was instantly. But instead of just giving up – which in any normal circumstances would be wise – she lifted her foot to stomp on the one wedged between her legs, only to swiftly change direction and kicked him in the shin. When he cursed, she laughed aloud at her small victory.

"Damn wench." He muttered darkly as he moved both his arms to wrap more completely around her.

Laughing again, she relaxed against him. "Stupid male."

Nuzzling her neck, he gave her an affectionate nip before resting his lips against her cream shoulder, content for the moment to just hold her and keep her there in his arms.

"Yuya-san? Yuya-san? Are you in there? I was wondering if you knew where Kyo was." Dropping her head a bit in silent defeat at being interrupted, she opened her mouth to tell Yukimura "no", when Kyo started growling low in his throat, then barked out a curt, "Go the fuck away!"

She should have said something – anything – to distill the sudden awkward silence on the other side of the shoji doors, but for some odd reason, every time she opened her mouth nothing would come out, so she stayed silent. When Kyo felt their interrupter go away, he went back to nuzzling the soft skin of her shoulder, licking and blowing a cool breath of air into the shell of her ear. She shivered, then made a small noise in the back of her throat as she attempted to turn and face him. But he held her in place, exerting his control over her as he slowly lowered her to the ground until she rested one her knees and elbows. His grin was pleased and slightly ruthless at her silent submission to his dominance.

As her cries lifted and rose in the air, Yukimura closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists as silent tears streamed down his face.

* * *

Yuya was humming when he encountered her next, and he stood watching her until she noticed him. She didn't, not immediately. Not like she did with Kyo. He let his eyes slide over her, took in the lusty sheen of radiant gold hair that cascaded down her back without any ribbons to restrain it. Took in the indigo blue of her kimono and the silver threads of her obi. Stared at the red ribbon she had wrapped around her wrist the night before and had yet to take off.

He knew it was time to admit defeat. He knew it was time just like he did when confronted with the Tokugawa. He fought, and he fought, and he attempted to tear the reign or power away from that horrid clan, and in the end only a few farmers and one fighter out of the Sanada Clan still lives to tell about it. His clan was dead. They would die out and disappear as if they had never been real in the first place, never been human beings that had fought so hard for something they felt was in their grasp, only to get the cruelest reality check when they were faced with the ever mounting tide of defeat.

He himself would become nothing but a myth, just something that people thought had happened, not someone people knew had been there. He had gone after Yuya with the hope that maybe Kyo really hadn't claimed her like Okuni once whispered in his ear. He had hoped that she would still be single, that she would still be fresh and pure like those years so long ago when he had the opportunity to bask in her light all the time. He was a fool for such hopes, for too many years had passed, and if someone as beautiful as she remained single for nearly seven years without at least one man touching her, then it was because she had set that course for herself deliberately. Something he knew she would never do.

He had not searched for her. It was Fate that he had depended on, and Fate alone to bring them together. That too, was foolish. Yes, they were brought together by Chance, or maybe even Fate, but by then she had already been claimed by a man whom he had considered one of his closest friends and much needed ally. Those days were obviously gone, for Kyo most definitely did not like Yukimura sniffing around his wife, for either friend or comrade.

But if Fate had brought them together, or if Chance had brought them together, why would the gods want to inflict such pain on his already broken heart by showing him that a woman he believed he was in love with clearly loves another? He didn't even want to think about the odd, disturbing hurt that rose in his chest every time he thought how she was loved in return. Why should he feel resentment over that? Shouldn't he be happy that she now had everything her heart had ever desired? A man to love, a house that was secluded, while at the same time not?

There were going to be children in her future. He knew she wanted those almost as badly as she wanted and still wanted the man that stands at her side, and he also knew that Kyo would not refuse her very long in that desire.

He loved her, and he would not hold back for very much longer.

But, oh god, he hurt. He was the leader of the dwindling clan of the Sanada's. He could hide his feelings and withstand the stench and sight of blood and even withstand killing. Yet his heart was broken by the mere hope that a woman who was already in love with another might deem to see it fit that she loved him too.

Foolish. It was utterly, utterly, foolish…

"Yukimura-san?" Yuya was looking at him strangely, so he forced a cheerful smile to his face and kneeled down beside her.

"You seem awfully chipper this morning." He let an affable grin come to his face, wanting to erase the uneasy, slightly uncomfortable look on her face.

Needed to let her know that he was, or would be, all right. Even if he wasn't and never would be.

She relaxed, smiling at him genuinely. He might have withered away and let some things about himself die, but he was at least glad that he still had control of his facial features and the ability to lie.

Maybe that was what's wrong with him.

Unlike Kyo, who had remained himself throughout all these many years, Yukimura had never stayed the same. Sorrow gripped him, even when he tried not to let it, and he had allowed that sorrow to take control and change him. Kyo never changed. Kyo always remained murderous, always deadly, always so damned _committed_ to every damn thing he put his mind to. He wanted to be the strongest samurai in the world.

He was.

He wanted to save the world – whether he really wanted to or he did it only to remain the strongest was still undetermined.

But he had done that, too.

But there _was_ one thing that happened that the great samurai hadn't planned, Yukimura thought with a sad smile. He did not want anybody to bind him to anything, and yet a small slip of a girl came along and pestered her way into that dark mans life, and wound herself smack dab in the middle of his icy hot heart where not even the mysterious Sakuya managed to touch, and she bound him.

Tight.

Love, Yukimura realized, really was a wondrous thing, even if that wondrous thing would always remain one sided – at least on his part. It allowed him to see both sides of the coin; Yuya's, and even Kyo's.

He was allowed the painful pleasure of watching a young girl grow up to be an elegant and beautiful woman. A woman he never did and never would have. He was allowed the painful experience of watching a cruel man morph into someone worthy of Yuya's love, a love that was returned fully and unconditionally.

Suddenly, that darkly elusive presence was felt, and Yukimura looked up to see Kyo standing over his wife, studying Yukimura in an assessing sort of way, as if wondering if he still posed a threat. Yukimura stood, offering a small, sad smile of defeat. Kyo didn't offer a look of understanding or gratitude, just a mere nod from a man who knew he had been the victor all along.

Without a word, Yukimura turned and left.

Once Yukimura left, Yuya looked up to her husband with a dejected, knowing look. She wasn't the only one who knew how to hide her emotions – and judging how Yukimura obviously hadn't realized she _knew_, those skills hadn't diminished. "Do you think he'll hate me?"

Kyo stared down at her, a weird expression that she had never seen him possess in his eyes. "No." He said curtly after a moment, and Yuya got the vague impression that he was valiantly trying – and failing – in defending Yukimura, or at least attempting to stand up for him. "I think he'll love you forever."

Gaping openly at him, it took Yuya a moment to absorb his words before a smile so radiant spread across her beautiful continence. She stood, dusting invisible dust from her kimono. "Well!" she exclaimed. "If I didn't know better, my dearest husband, I'd say you're getting soft in your old age."

He snorted and crossed his arms, his red eyes deep and promising as he gave her a grin that had her nerve endings tingling and her eyes to widen in anticipation even as her breath started to come out in short, quiet gasps. "If you think I'm old now," He drawled in a manner that was completely unlike him. "You're going to be positively _ancient_ looking when you're my age."

Her mouth popped open. "Why – why you dreadful _wretch_! I'll be looking better than you!" she smiled inwardly even as she fumed at the fact that he could always bring out the child inside of her. She secretly hoped that he would never stop.

It was then that he reached out his arms, and held her.

Simply held her.

Laughing, she merely gripped him tighter as she let her happiness flow over her completely, losing her inside it's warm tide that she never wanted to surface from it, simply drown right then and there. Their life would not be easy. They would fight, and they would forgive each other, and they would simply love each other.

It was, she thought with a smile, quite simply the most wondrous thing that could have ever happened to them.

* * *

Yukimura watched them approach with no small feeling of dread. Instead, he just felt an aching sadness. He shook his head. That, he thought ruefully, was something that he should have accepted as a part of himself a long time ago.

They were leaving.

_She_ was leaving.

"Yukimura..." She looked nervous, and he watched as her tongue darted out to wet her lips. Oh damn. She must have grown not only smart, but observant as well. How deep did she realize his love for her was...?

The sad thing was, he knew she didn't care enough to offer any words of comfort.

Slowly, he took her hand in his, marveling at the small, delicate fingers that simply lay there against his open palm. He heard a strange sort of choking sound come from her throat, and when he glanced up, he saw that she was crying.

Her hand was small in his, her tears a single stream running down her cheeks. How could it have come to this? She had been so happy the night before, but now the only thing left to do is say goodbye forever without ever looking back. She had, after all, sworn to herself that she would never do that again. She hadn't meant to hurt Yukimura – she hadn't even realized the depth of his emotion when she had joyously welcomed his friendship after so many years of separation.

She hadnt a chance to say goodbye to Sasuke – he'd disappeared somewhere after last night and hadnt been seen since. She thought that he might never come back, but after all had been revealed in this eventful week (or was it weeks) she truly could say she no longer knew her most dearest friend. And now, watching Yukimura, she waited while he gathered the right words to say goodbye.

"Yuya..." He spoke on a sigh, with out the added honorific. "I will _always_ be here." his voice was fierce, his expression pained. "Always. If anything ever happens... just call my name, and I swear I'll hear you from where ever you are. I'll be here. Do you understand what I'm saying? I'll always... _be_ here."

Choking back her sobs, she threw her arms around him, holding him close to her. "I understand, Yukimura. You may not think I do, but I do!" With that choked off word, she turned on her heel and strode towards Kyo who, without even bothering to say something, turned on his heel to follow her as she walked away.

This sadness would pass, she knew. In the near future, there would be another addition to Yuya and Kyo's tiny little family. It was too soon to know for sure, but there was a little warmth in the pit of her stomach, a small little glowing coal that placed itself right next to heart that made her _know_. And, knowing that, gave her the courage to walk away from a friendship that had developed so long ago, only to be so easily cracked by the simple, yet complicated occurrence a friend made by taking that friendship too far. But the sadness would pass. She knew it just as much as she knew the sky was blue.

The sadness would pass.

Yukimura watched them, feeling sick at heart, but smiled anyway. "I thought you had left me."

"I thought I did, too." Sasuke said as he materialized out of the shadows to watch with Yukimura the retreating figures of the two people Sasuke held in the highest esteem. "Guess sticking by your side is what I was meant to do."

Yukimura smiled, a bit genuinely this time. "I'm glad, Sasuke. I'm really glad."


End file.
